Tech, defense lead market rally
NEW YORK — Strong gains for technology companies helped lead U.S. stocks higher Monday. Defense contractors also climbed as the market continued to bounce back from a bout of turbulence last week.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index jumped 12.29 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,394.02. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 89.99 points, or 0.4 percent, to 20,894.83. The Nasdaq composite gained 49.91 points, or 0.8 percent, to 6,133.62. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 9.81 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,377.14.
Shares of technology companies are closing in on all-time highs and continued to rise Monday, led by Cisco Systems and Qualcomm.
Aerospace and defense companies rose after President Donald Trump presided over a sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia. Amazon led consumer-focused companies higher. Energy companies lagged even though oil prices continued their recent climb.
Sameer Samana, a strategist for Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said people continue to spend more money on personal electronics while businesses invest in automation and software to improve productivity.
“In a low-growth environment, you’ve got to squeeze more out of every dollar of investment,” Samana said. At the same time, he said, some overseas markets have been stronger than expected this year.
The technology component of the S&P 500 index has soared 18 percent this year, almost three times as much as the broader S&P 500. On Monday chipmaker Qualcomm gained $1.61, or 2.8 percent, to $59.28 and Cisco Systems, which sells routers, switches and software, rose 38 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $31.59. Adobe Systems picked up $2.42, or 1.8 percent, to $138.85 and design software maker Autodesk jumped $3.45, or 3.1 percent, to $113.36.
Both the S&P 500 and techheavy Nasdaq composite set records early last week before worries about growing political uncertainty in Washington, which could hamper President Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and deregulation, knocked those indexes back from their highs. The Russell 2000 of smaller companies, which would benefit more than large ones from Trump’s proposals, is down 3 percent from the record it set a month ago.
Aerospace and defense companies climbed after President Trump presided over a $110 billion sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia. The agreement could expand to $350 billion over 10 years. Lockheed Martin climbed $4.24, or 1.6 percent, to $277.03 and Boeing gained $2.91, or 1.6 percent, to $183.67.
Oil prices continued to rally. Benchmark U.S. crude oil added 40 cents to $50.73 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 26 cents to $53.87 a barrel in London.
Wholesale gasoline gained 1 cent to $1.66 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.60 a gallon. Natural gas climbed 7 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $3.33 per 1,000 cubic feet.